Dave Storey Trio Bosco (Impossible Ark Records 025) Dave Storey has emerged from the same London scene based around the RAM post-graduate study program that has incubated so much cutting-edge young talent; his associates on this record are deeply involved with such cross-genre ventures and Golden Age Of Steam (Allsopp) and Laura Jurd’s Dinosaur (Chaplin); […]
Various Artists Jazz New Blood Alive 2018 (Jazz New Blood) Jazz New Blood Alive 2018 is the third compilation recorded live at the annual showcase series with the same name, part of EFG London Jazz Festival and supported by Waterloo Creative Studio. Patricia Pascal and her team have been documenting the thriving young London jazz […]
Are there any self-declared fans of jazz-and-related-musics out there who don’t like Blue Note records? This year marks the 80th birthday of the label, and there’s presents for everyone in the form of a slew of re-releases, lost sessions from the vaults and the release of not one, but two high-end documentaries telling the well-known […]
John Turville Quintet The Verdict, Brighton Saturday 9th March, 2019 This is the last show in the tour and there’s an end-of-term vibe on the Verdict’s crowded stage as our genial host Roxanne introduces the band to the packed house. “I’ve been having a lot of fun” says Turville, adding wryly “and I think the […]
Gabriel Latchin Trio The Moon and I (Alys Jazz AJ 1502) This nourishing slice of well confected bop traditionalism starts and ends with that most traditional trope, a Rhythm Changes workout – Arthur Go has a crisply constructed head, combining block chords with bluesy inflections with some of the poise of Hank Jones and the […]
Steve Fishwick/Alex Garnett Quartet Marshian Time Slip (Hard Bop Records HBR33011) This project has been long in the gestation; some 15 years ago brothers Steve and Matt Fishwick and Alex Garnett were neighbours in Maida Vale, and used to rehearse together, exploring their mutual love of the hard bop tradition. The chordless format was adopted on […]
Snarky Puppy Immigrance (GroundUP Music) The eagerly waited, much touted follow-up to 2016’s Culcha Vulcha, sees Michael League at the head of his “pop band that improvises a lot, without vocals” deploying a host of musicians in a typically wide-ranging, ambitious but accessible melange of contemporary fusion. There’s no Cory Henry this time, but Bobby […]
John Turville Head First (Whirlwind WR4734) John Turville has spent the last decade quietly establishing himself as the go-to pianist for the kind of thoughtful, multi-faceted modern jazz whose distinctly European sensibility was developed by composers such as John Taylor and Kenny Wheeler, and continues to thrive today. His sensitivity, advanced harmonic concept and the […]
The nominations for the JazzFM Awards are in, and it’s especially gratifying to see how many of the nominees have been active within our area of the Jazz-o-sphere over the past twelve months. On the gig front, the Verdict has once again proved its worth as a viable performance space for touring jazz artists, having […]
Patchwork Jazz Orchestra The Adventures of Mr. Pottercakes (Spark Label Spark!007) This impressive project unites some of the London jazz scene’s brightest young sparks (many of whom will be familiar to Brighton audiences from their appearances for New Generation Jazz) into a single multi-headed beast that provides a wide-ranging, ambitious showcase for everyone’s writing, arranging, […]